New York Street Food

I know we’ve been writing about grilled cheese a lot lately, but a) most people love it and b) there are some creative chefs doing interesting new things in the genre.

We first heard about (and tried) Food Freaks Grilled Cheese at the Taste of the Parks showcase last June.  The NYC Parks Dept was showing off some of the new vendors in the parks, and Food Freaks Grilled Cheese were one of our favorite tastes of the parks that day.

Food Freaks was founded by brothers Stephen and Dave Cusato and John Coppola, who are now serving awesome grilled cheese from a yellow kiosk right outside Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn (at DeKalb Ave).  They are open Tues-Sun from 11-5:30, but are open later when the weather is warmer.

Below is one of the tastes I had from Food Freaks Grilled Cheese that day, which was delicious.

braised short ribs, gruyere, blackberry jam & more

A young filmmaker in Fort Greene named Jonathan Mann approached Food Freaks Grilled Cheese not too long ago to make a video.  It came out really well.

Click through to check out the full menu of Food Freaks, and to watch the tasty video. (more…)

Carnegie John hard at work over the summer

Long-time NYSF readers know how much I love Carnegie John’s food, who I believe serves the best chicken over rice in midtown.  Newer readers, pay close attention.

Carnegie John’s cart is on West 56th St, just east of 7th Ave (right behind Carnegie Hall), where it has been for over the past 10 years.  Before that, John learned the business at the knee of Tony Dragonas, who was a Vendy Award finalist in 2005, the very first year they were held.

There are a few things that set Carnegie John apart from the chicken over rice at most other street vendors. See what they are after the jump.

Today’s Lunch is chicken over rice ($6.50) from Carnegie John’s.

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While eating some Mighty Balls yesterday, I was reminded of the Bavarian meatball hero at Hallo Berlin.

Last time I was at Hallo Berlin on 54th St just west of 5th Ave, the guy in front of me ordered a Bavarian meatball hero, and it looked pretty good.  I’ve been wanting to try one ever since.

Hallo Berlin won the Vendy Cup in 2006, and every wurst I’ve had there has been delicious – but could Wolfgang pull off Bavarian meatballs?  Today’s Lunch is a Bavarian meatball hero ($4) from Hallo Berlin.

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“]”]From the NY Post: Five vendors operating on 54th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan have racked up close to $1 million in outstanding fines in the past 12 months.  That’s nearly a tenth of the total $10.45 million in outstanding violations issued citywide in the past year.

Fines for infractions such as setting up too close to the curb or improper food storage can cost as much as $1,000 a pop. Overall, the city is still owed $20.9 million in outstanding street-vendor fines that have been issued since 2003.

The high dollar amounts and sheer number of violations prompt some vendors to just blow them off.

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Over the weekend, we stopped by Eat Here Now Now Eat Here to pick up brunch.  They are on 16th St under the High Line from Tues-Fri, and are on Hudson St & 12th St on Sat & Sun.  The cart is open from 8am-4pm, which makes sense because one of their most popular dishes is a breakfast burrito, although they serve it all day.

I’ve previously enjoyed their breakfast burrito, but my wife never had one until Saturday.  She liked it as much as I did.  It has eggs, cheese, onions, poblano peppers, a mild hot sauce and some other stuff (like the tortilla you can see in the picture below).

breakfast burrito

The 2011 Vendy Award Finalist for Rookie of the Year has simplified their menu for a couple of reasons.  Stan told me that now he can work the cart by himself, and the menu revisions are designed to cut down the waiting times.

In addition to the breakfast burrito, Stan now has a grass fed burger, crab cakes and quesadillas.  He removed tacos from the menu, but you can get crab cakes in either a sandwich or in a quesadilla.

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